Image by Nazareth College via Flickr

RETHINKING ELDER CARE HOMES

Nursing homes often fell like hospitals, with a central nurses’ station, tile floors, institutional food, and long hallways to shared patients’ rooms.  The processes of a nursing home are designed around staff efficiency.

The Green Houses look and feel nothing like that.  They are designed around comfort and concern for the residents.  The homes were developed by Dr. William Thomas, an upstate New York geriatrician.  Thomas also introduced the Eden Alternative, a movement to de-institutionalize long-term care.

“PLEASE PUT  ME IN NURSING HOME!”

It is easy to summon the image of a pathetic parent begging an adult child, “Please don’t put me in a nursing home.”  The parents who know about the Green Houses are more likely to beg, “Please put me in a nursing home, but make sure it is a Green House!”

The purpose of a Green House is to empower elders and focuses on what they can do, rather than all the things they can no longer do.   The goal is to make even the last, frail years of an elder’s life dignified, safe, and content.

FEATURES OF A GREEN HOUSE

The designs of the Green Houses are all similar. They  are single story, with plenty of open space and comfortable furnishings. Most homes provides 10 – 12 private bedrooms

A communal sitting room with a real fireplace opens into a homey kitchen and dining area. A long dining room table adjoins a breakfast bar along the kitchen island.  Residents dine together family style.

Bedrooms include a bathroom and built-in ceiling track for a sling-ride system from bed to bathroom.

Image via Wikipedia

Construction is environmentally friendly with geothermal heating and cooling, and good insulation that also is a sound control.  There is plenty of light and access to outdoor patios and gardens.  Residents are encouraged to  garden if they choose.

Other Green House features:

• A pager system to replace call lights.
• Washers and dryers where each resident’s laundry is done separately.
• Medications stored in a locked drawer in each residents’ room (no cart down the hall).
• Pets permitted; birds in the room, cats and dogs on-site.

INTRODUCING THE SHAHBAZ

Trained nurses’ aides, each called a shahbaz, base their care on nurturing, sustaining and protecting.  Beyond typical care, the shahbaz cooks, cleans, does laundry, gives hugs, and tries to help each resident experience the best quality of life.

The same team of shahbaz are full time staff for the residents.  They know each resident well and provide personal attention and care.  Personalized service is possible because the scale is more manageable than a nursing home.

Meals are cooked by a shahbaz, with residents choosing their own meal times. Everything is designed around the needs of the residents, not the staff.

PRIVATE PAY

Medicaid does not cover skilled nursing long-term care.  Costs for the residents are about $20 more per day than traditional skilled-nursing private rooms. Typically residents pay $280 a day in a Green House. A private room in a skilled-nursing home costs about $260.

EDITORS NOTE: If you want to develop an eldercare plan, start by doing some research into The Green Houses.  It will take away dread and denial and allow you to get on with the planning you need to do while you are still healthy.